So I thought about Rocker being suspended. The question I have is WHY? Why exactly did he get suspended, besides to be made an example of?

Don't get me wrong, I do not condone what Rocker said, not by any stretch of the imagination. Since the news of the article broke, Rocker's name has been tossed about with the likes of, oh I don't know, insert your own big racist person here. But the question still remains: Why?

First of all, Rocker has apologized over and over again. Whether he apologized on his own or was told to by Major League Baseball, I don't know. I can't tell you what the man believes. I can, however, tell you what the guy practices. This is the same John Rocker whose best friends on the team are Bruce Chen and Andruw Jones. How could they be his best friends? He shares a lot in common with them—which is how most of us form our friendships. Both Chen and Jones have lived in Rocker's home for months at a time. So tell me, should I imagine Rocker is slipping off to his Klan meetings while Chen and Jones sleep, hiding the sheets and hoods and somehow getting away with it under their noses? Better yet, how about I imagine that Chen and Jones go with him to the meetings?

I am always amazed when one guy, a sports hero, or anyone else who holds a highly public position, says the same stuff that everyone else says in the world, and gets reamed for it. I guarantee you that every reporter trashing Rocker has made fun of a minority group. How many of us can say we never, ever laughed at or told a joke that had a racist twist to it? How many of us are bothered by the taxi driver, the bank teller, or the drive through guy who can't speak English very well? I'm not knocking them. America is the greatest country in the world because we are the most diverse. In fact, our differences are what make us great, but sometimes, just sometimes, it sucks.

Speaking of situations that suck, could one more player in the NFL get arrested for something stupid this off-season? Add to the string of Pro-Athlete arrests, two alleged murderers (I stress alleged), a few drug abusers (as always, but I don't think drug abuse counts as a violation in the NFL anymore, does it?)

Perhaps the scariest thing about the crap that has gone down with sports figures in the past few months is that we don't care. If you think about it, what got more coverage? Rae Carruth allegedly killing his pregnant girlfriend? Ray Lewis possibly being involved with a double homicide? Or John Rocker saying stupid stuff to a magazine reporter?

Add it up folks, Rocker has been the bigger story. That's sad. The saddest thing of all though, is that in the near future, the murders Lewis and Carruth might have been involved in will be just as forgotten as the guys in the NFL who get arrested for drugs now. It happens so often, we don't care anymore. That my friends is sick. There is something for the people in Atlanta to be more outraged about than John Rocker: the death of innocent people all over. What on this frazum planet, is worth killing someone over, what is worth punching, kicking, stabbing, and shooting someone about? Everyday, people die, and for what? Instead we banter the air waves with a guy who deserves no attention for some stupid comments in a magazine.

As stupid as Rocker is, he had the right to say what he said. A little something called the First Amendment assures that people like you and I can write stuff down. It also assures that idiots, morons, and racist bustards can as well. Rocker didn't do anything that deserved a suspension, he has the right to speak and be stupid. We all do.

Yet many of these same athletes who we see committing crimes are repeat offenders, given freedom from the law because they can run a ball into a stupid end-zone—or put a ball in a frazum hoop. These people have the greatest advantages in life, but can't figure out that they have it made. Guys like Peter Warrick, who shoplifts from a stupid store, but doesn't get punished for it. The guy knows he has to tow the line for a few more months, then he'll be rewarded for being king jock. A few months from being the richest person he knows, he breaks the law. The cycle continues.

How many more unstable people should we keep out of jail, just because they can put a ball across a painted line? There are a bunch of people off their Rocker my friends, and John isn't one of them.

-Nate Merz

Nate Merz's ultraconservative sports viewpoints appear semimonthly on LostBrain.com.